The Deli Girl
by Elle Q. Kaye
Summary: AU: James is back in the game after a nasty divorce and a girl catches his eye. Lily is in her final year of university and not interested in dating. Sirius has come out of his playboy ways and Remus is engaged to Tonks. Slight OOC for some characters.
1. Frustration

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

_Warning: AU- Set in the muggle world (also includes Petunia and Regulus), also slightly OOC._

"Mr Potter, Mr Black will see you now," smiled the wrinkly receptionist. James sighed and threw down the out of date magazine impatiently.

"Finally," he muttered and stormed across the room to a door that read: _Sirius Black, Solicitor._ James pushed the door open and scowled at the man eating a roll, with his feet on his desk.

"Ah, James!" greeted the man happily and gestured the seat in front of him. "Close the door, buddy."

"How can you be eating?" said James incredulously, closing the door. "Court is tomorrow! Where's Remus, Sirius?"

"He's currently talking to what's-his-face...er, your wife's lawyer. Man, your wife's a piece of work," muttered the man called Sirius.

"Ex-wife, soon to be ex-wife," corrected James and sat in the seat. "And that's why we're having a divorce."

"Right," said Sirius carelessly and brushed his dark hair out of his clever eyes.

James scowled deeper at Sirius' lazy attitude and watched his take an enormous bite of his roll. A bit of shredded carrot fell onto Sirius' suit and he swore.

"How long is your lunch break? Why is it that whenever I come around to check on you, you're eating? Why'd I even hire you in the first place?"

"Because I have been your best friend since the start of high school and I am one of the best lawyers you can get. But you've still got Moony."

"He's done more work than you!" snapped James. "You _do_ know that if I lose my house and money, I'll need to stay with you."

Sirius finished his roll and chewed slowly before answering. "You're...always...welcome," he said between chews and swallowed. "Great sauce. Never tasted mayo like that before."

"Ok, lunch is over. Get on with your work," James pointed at the sheets scattered across Sirius' desk. Sirius nodded.

"Right, I'll go through your bank history again after I finish my next sandwich."

James' left eye twitched. "And where is your next sandwich?"

Sirius stood up. "I'm going to get it now. Want to go with me?"

James looked at Sirius' bright smile and shrugged. Sirius could be lazy one second, funny the next and then turn into a complete smart, witty lawyer.

"Where?"

"There's a new sandwich shop around the corner. They make the best grilled salami sandwiches and their coffees are pretty good too."

"Ok, ok! Just go get your bloody sandwich," muttered James, pushing Sirius out the door.

"Another one, dear?" asked the receptionist sweetly. James nodded curtly and pushed Sirius through the building and into his car. A very old, red dusty road runner.

"Hey! Where's your car?" exclaimed Sirius.

"She took the Mercedes _and_ the Ford," said James and turned the key. The engine started with a splutter and revved loudly so that both James and Sirius winced.

"Man, this is such a blow to my ego," Sirius said lowly.

"I wouldn't be seen 50 miles within this, but no, the bitch leaves me with this," cursed James driving out onto the road. "I mean, I wake up this morning and find my car missing. And in its place is this pile of crap."

Sirius snorted and waved his arms around. "Yo Prongs, mate, stop. We're here."

Sirius pointed a small cafe with two tables outside and a gold rimmed door. There was a yellow banner hung up that said _Opening Today!_ and a slice of bread next to it.

"Nice place," noted James and parked the car in front of the shop. A blonde waitress bounded out and smiled flirtatiously with Sirius.

"Back so soon, honey?" she cooed and smiled at James. "And you've brought a friend with you."

James could feel his right eye twitch. The girl had a horsey teeth and a bony face, thick with makeup. Sirius smiled nervously and said, "Great food, you've got."

He hastily made his way in as the waitress continued to smile at James creepily. James laughed uncomfortably and followed Sirius into the shop.

It was more a deli than anything. On one side was a deli, in one corner was a coffee machine with a man standing in front of it and the rest of the space had tables and chairs.

Sirius had sat in a seat next to a window, with a menu in his hand, scanning it quickly. James rolled his eyes and tutted impatiently.

"Hurry up, Padfoot," he snapped.

"Ok. I'm gonna get a latte and a chicken salad sandwich."

Sirius waved his arm around until he got the attention of the man at the coffee machine.

"Petunia! Petun- Ah, bloody hell," the man muttered and walked over to serve Sirius himself. "What would you like, sir?"

"A latte, a chicken salad sandwich and some garlic bread," said Sirius. The man nodded and disappeared off to the back.

"My divorce is tomorrow, mate," James reminded Sirius, who shrugged. James clenched his fist and stormed out of the deli. The blonde girl was still outside, an unlit cigarette dangly out of her mouth.

"Leaving so soon?" she said. James ignored her and climbed into his embarrassing car and drove away to the building. When he entered, the receptionist said, "Mr Lupin is back."

James thanked her and walked into Remus' office.

"James?" Remus was surprised when he saw James. "I thought you were out with Sirius."

James' left eye twitched. "How did it go with Fudge?"

"Cornelius would even hear what I had to say. Your wife wants full custody of your kids," said Remus. He was exhausted.

"Fine, I don't care. They're miniature versions of her anyway," snarled James. "Bloody brats."

Remus gathered pieces of paper and slid them into a folder. "James, your life is a mess. I mean, you're 26 and already getting greys."

"I wouldn't be talking, Moony," said James, running a hand through his black hair. He'd found a grey hair a week ago, however Moony had had bits of grey on his sandy brown hair due to his stressed work.

"You need a break," continued Remus, ignoring James. "Ask Dumbledore for a holiday before you explode or something."

James was currently co-head of a computer software and hardware company, which placed him under a lot of stress, even though he had over 100 staff members. Dumbledore was his mentor, boss, guardian and close friend.

"I can't, massive order from America and there's that company promotion project I'm doing," grunted James. Remus looked at him sympathetically and cleared his throat.

"Right. Just come here at around 10 tomorrow morning," said Remus mildly. "We'll go over what to do again then."

"Then? Why not now?" demanded James.

"I need Sirius' paperwork," explained Remus. He opened his drawer and out took out a stamp. "He's really coming along and left all his playboy ways, you know."

James watched Remus attack several sheets of paper with the stamp and then put them into another folder.

"I'm glad he's done something, those bimbos were getting on my nerves."

Remus coughed politely and smiled. "They got on everyone's nerves. I met Regulus the other day, he keeps going on about trying to take down those posters on Sirius' walls."

James grinned. "I remember. I gave him most of those posters for his birthday anyway."

Remus coughed again and began to file the folders away. "Walburga's not happy with Regulus you know."

"Walburga?" James asked curiously.

"Sirius' mother."

"Oh, sorry. I've only known her as 'the mad cow' or 'she-devil'," said James, ruffling his hair. He sat in a seat. "Bless Sirius' language. So, what did Regulus do this time?"

"He's two years into university, studying art. Walburga wants him to do finance."

"Yeah, well, Sirius did law and look how he's ended up..."

The door burst open and standing they was a very pissed off Sirius Black.

"I heard that!" growled Sirius. "And you dare you drive off without me! I was even planning on sharing a piece of garlic bread with you!"

Remus snorted and cleared his throat again as James shook his head in disbelief.

"I had to walk all the way back!" said Sirius grumpily and slumped in a seat next to James. Remus and James laughed.

"Anyway," said Remus, "Sirius and I will go through everything tonight and we'll meet with you here at 10 and then go to court at 1. Sound good?"

Sirius grunted and James nodded.

To most people, divorce sounded like hell. It was messy and nasty and full of negative things.

To James Potter, divorce would be heaven.

* * *

Author's note: That was probably the worst first chapter that I've ever, ever written...but it will get better...when a certain girl makes her appearance...in the next chapter... hint, hint.

Btw, I need a character to be James' (ex-) wife. I'm open to all suggestions, even OCs. You can suggest people from the next generation if you want to (eg. Hermione) but that would be weird... (imagine Hermione and James...)

Review, people!!


	2. Best Decision Ever Made

Author's note: Not ever having been married, and therefore never have had a divorce, I just made majority of this chapter up. I am skipping over what actually goes on in court because of the lazy person that I am. I'm so sorry about the lack of detail and the bad writing skills.

_Disclaimer: I'm not creative enough to come up with something like Harry Potter. I do not own it._

"...I mean, why can't I keep my house and my money and my life and she can have the kids?" said James. "I don't even think the kids are mine! They look nothing like me! Honestly, that bi-"

"James," said Remus warningly.

"-will sleep with anyone who looks that they have money!"

"Why'd you marry her then, eh?" said Sirius.

The three of them were sitting in Remus' office going over 'important' matters, or that was how Remus felt. James insisted that it was a waste of time while Sirius tended to nod off in the middle of the conversation. It was getting closer to 1 and it didn't help that James kept complaining about his soon to be ex-wife. Remus, however, found it easier to just nod at what James was saying and do all the work himself.

"Our parents use to work together and they thought that we would be a 'cute' couple..."

"And she's got nice boobs," added Sirius. James groaned and banged his head on the table.

"They're not even real! She took money out of our account one day, went off to some market place in Singapore and came back with them!"

Remus wasn't looking too happy at where the conversation was going. Sirius was grinning like a loony and James still hadn't looked up.

"Right, well," Remus cleared his throat. "Now-"

"Perfect nose," said Sirius

"It's fake too," muttered James.

"Skin?"

"About 10 thousand pounds a year, going to her 'skin specialist'."

"Cheekbones?"

"Botox."

"Oh, er...hair?"

"Bleached. She's actually a brunette. Goes and gets a big hair dying job about once every 2 months..."

"Body...?" Sirius asked weakly. James sighed.

"Liposuction every 9 months. While they're sucking out her fat, she sucking me clean of all my money!"

Remus shuddered at the way James described his almost ex-wife. He hoped that his relationship with Tonks would never reach that level of hate. They were getting married in 7 months.

"Right, back to busin-"

"And will you believe that she's the one who wants the divorce? What on earth did I do wrong? I'm perfect!"

Both Sirius and Remus nodded. They'd heard his rant to many times, even before the divorce. Heck, even before they'd gotten married! But James was young and his parents only wanted the best for him, so they pressured him into this marriage. His in-laws were ecstatic that their daughter was going to marry James, a successful businessman with the good looks to boot. She, herself, wasn't too pleased to say goodbye to her bachelorette life. Sirius' personal life was angelic compared to what she got up to.

"Bloody snob, too! Married 4 years and I've never _ever_ seen her with a Gucci bag or Prada shoes...EVEN IN BED!! Never cooks, expects house to be clean... Oh and the kids...! Don't get me started on the kids..."

Sirius obliged by slugging James on the shoulder. "Get a grip mate. Right after the court thingy, let's go clubbing!"

Remus' patience wore out and his hand hit the back of Sirius' head. "You can do whatever you want when we finish this damn divorce! I want this over and done with as much as any of you, so stop going off topic!"

"Right. So, uh, right. Erm..." gabbled Sirius. "James you have to sign here...and here... Now the whole thing won't take too long. I mean, it's not a murder investigation, so hopefully we just say our part about you having your house and money and she can have the kids and then the judge will agree."

"Sounds easy," murmured James. Remus was shaking his head at Sirius who mouthed _What?_ To which Remus replied _Later_.

The receptionist knocked on Remus' door. "Mr Lupin? It's quarter to 1. You best be off now!"

"Ah, thank you. Could you call Tonks and tell her that I'll call her straight after I'm done?" smiled Remus.

"Of course, dear."

She closed the door quietly as she left. Remus began to gather everything in his tattered looking suitcase. James straightened his tie and Sirius excused himself to go to the toilet.

"Probably doing his hair," said Remus with a grin. "Come on James, we need to be on time. Good impression and all."

James ruffled his hair nervously and quickly scooted outside to Remus' black SUV. He stayed there, leaning against the side of the car, breathing hard. He was as nervous as hell but also confident. This was easily the best decision in his life, but he didn't want _her_ to get her claws on his hard earned money or beloved house.

James Potter had 2 kids. The older, a three year old boy with a honey blonde mop of hair. Seeing as neither James nor his wife was blonde, it was safe to say that James was very suspicious, even though his wife insisted that her mother was naturally blonde. The younger was a two girl with an upturned nose and brown ringlets, who wailed whenever she got something that wasn't pink. Try feeding her custard coloured baby food.

Their first year of marriage wasn't the happiest but it was definitely the best out of the 4 years. James never spent more than 2 weeks at once with his family because of his business trips. During their third year of marriage, his wife had asked him whether or not he was cheating on her. The nerve of the woman! James hated his family but he was still a proper man. He would never do something as low as cheating on his wife, even if she was a bitch.

"Prongs, my man!" cheered Sirius, appearing beside James. James jumped and smiled, though it probably looked more like a grimace. "Just in a few hours, you are going to be single again. And between you and me," he lowered his voice, "let's keep it that way this time..."

Sirius winked at James who rolled his eyes.

In 10 minutes, they were in front of the court house, where a small group of people already stood there.

"Damn, they're already here," muttered Sirius.

"Not surprising, seeing as we're late," said Remus and parked neatly next to the sidewalk. James was pale in the back seat.

"Now, James, she's not gonna hurt you," said Sirius soothingly. "Maybe haunt you for the rest of your life but-"

"What he's trying to say is," said Remus, glaring at Sirius. "It's fine. And if you lose, I'm sure Dora wouldn't mind if you come live with us. I'm sparing you the pain of living with Padfoot."

"Thanks, Moony," James took a deep breath. "Let's do this!"

They three men slid coolly out of their car and strutted towards the group, or at least Sirius and Remus did. James was walking far too stiffly.

"Ah, Lupin!" greeted a portly man wearing a stupid lime green bowler hat and a pin striped suit. His fashion was oddly eccentric."We wear hoping that you weren't even going to show up!"

Remus smiled. "No, of course not. I think you met Sirius Black?"

The man surveyed Sirius with distaste and growled darkly, "Black. 'Course I know him...you're the one who pulled all those shenanigans at that law school all those years ago, weren't you?"

Sirius looked at the man with equal distaste. "Who are you?" he asked crudely, ignoring the man's question.

"This is Cornelius Fudge-"

"Fudge? Oh, so you're the father of that girl from-"

"Cornelius, darling!" trilled a ridiculously sweet voice. Behind Fudge, stood a blonde woman with a face like a pug, smiling. She was wearing a fur coat and leather knee-high boots. There were 2 children hanging off of her arms. "Please introduce me to these fine gentlemen."

James' right eye twitched as Sirius very notably cringed and the woman's smile faltered for a second.

"Pansy, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and-"

"Don't know why you need introducing to me," snarled James. Pansy blinked innocently as Remus patted James on the arm to calm him down. The last thing everyone needed was James lunging at the throat of his future ex-wife. Or maybe that was what Fudge wanted.

"Are those your kids?" Sirius said loudly, jerking a thumb in the children's direction. James shrugged.

"Supposedly."

Sirius bent down so that he was at eye level with the oldest boy who sneered into Sirius' face. Pansy hugged the children closer to her as if Sirius were about to hurt them. The little girl bared her teeth at Sirius and began to cry with Sirius made a face back.

"Mate, are you sure they're yours?" asked Sirius as Pansy picked up the little girl and patted her furiously on the back and muttered things that sounded suspiciously like, "Good girl, keep crying...just like we practised..."

"Sirius, I said 'Supposedly,'. How am I meant to know?" James grinned as the little girl began to hit Pansy on the head with her little fist.

"Guys, we'd better head in," said Remus quietly, but totally amused. The three of them couldn't help smirking as the girl began to tug on Pansy hair and Pansy screamed like a banshee, while the little boy was kicking Fudge in the legs.

With pure satisfaction, James entered the building with his lawyers.

* * *

Author's note: Hahaha, that was a quick update... and did you really think that the girl I mentioned in the previous chapter would be... MUAHAHAHA

To -ahem ahem-, thanks for the idea of Pansy. I actually love it!! (can I have permission next time to say your name?)

Review people and give me more ideas. Random stuff like what -cough cough COUGH- would be studying at university. I'm not going to mention her name until she actually appears in the story.

REVIEW~~~

-K

Here's a spoiler for the next chapter:

_She was clearly the most beautiful thing that he'd ever seen. James wanted to reach out and feel her silky hair and hear her laugh. But he didn't. Why? Only because she was glaring at him with so much force that he was worried that he would be blasted out the window._

* * *


	3. Free Man

_Disclaimer: Sick of saying this, but Harry Potter remains 100% JK Rowling's._

"To freedom!"

"_Sirius! Sit down!_"

"To -hic- judges!"

"James, grab him before he does something stupid."

"No baggage anymore!"

James quickly grabbed Sirius arm and forced him to sit down, Remus was tutting in a motherly way.

"It's only 2 in the afternoon, Padfoot! No need to get wasted," said Remus quietly. Sirius giggled and ended with a snort.

"Oops, pardon moi," he grinned and rested his head on James' shoulder. James smiled at his friend and shrugged at Remus, who slowly stirred sugar in his coffee. They were sitting at a little booth in the corner of the deli/cafe, quietly celebrating James' 'victory' in court. He could keep his house and money but he had to pay alimony to Pansy every three months.

The whole trip back no one said anything, even though James felt incredibly relieved and relaxed. Sirius, who was just tipsy at the time, suggested that they come to this cafe.

"It's a nice place," commented Remus. "Dora would like coming here."

"Fantastic ideaaa!" slurred Sirius. "We...can all ceeeeleeeeebraaaate for...uh...Prongs and dance...sing...partaay..."

He trailed off quietly, not before James could hear his snoring. Carefully, James shrugged off Sirius' head and attempted to put him in a dignified position.

"He looks dead," said Remus. "Ok, now he looks gormless. Nice one, James."

"Shut up, Moony," James retorted. "Who was the one who let him have a beer in the first place?"

Remus sighed dejectedly. "Old habits die hard, eh?"

"Right," James grinned. "_You_ will always be our lenient mother, _he_ will always be our resident playboy and _I_ will always be that stingy rich guy."

"Cheers to that," smiled Remus and raised his cup of coffee. James would have done the same, if it were not for the fact that he still hadn't gotten his mocha.

"Um, miss? I'm still waiting for my coffee," said James, clicking his fingers impatiently at the blonde waitress. She was flirty heavily with a thickset man with a large moustache and no neck, and looked up and waved at James. James looked at the coffee machine, which just happened to be right next to him, and saw that no one was operating it.

"Excuse me, miss, but I ordered a coffee 10 minutes ago and..."

The waitress smiled, showing all her horsey teeth and called out to no one in particular. "People, we have a missing order!"

There was no response and Petunia grumbled crossly.

"Oh, my God, Lily! Can't you do _anything_ around here?" snapped the waitress loudly. "Are you _deaf_? Go make a mocha!"

Someone sighed loudly and the door to the kitchen swung open. Standing there was a young woman, with bright green eyes and dark red hair that stopped just above her shoulders. Her skin wasn't pale, but it wasn't flushed either. It came somewhere in between, making a pale pink.

The girl scowled at the blonde waitress who was already flirting with the man. She walked over to the coffee machine and punched some buttons aggressively. James watched her carefully pour out milk in the steel jug and heap some brown powder into the machine.

James watched her with fascination and saw her grind up some coffee beans and add it into the machine. She was clearly the most beautiful thing that he'd ever seen. James wanted to reach out and feel her silky hair and hear her laugh. But he didn't. Why? Only because she was glaring at him with so much force that he was worried that he would be blasted out the window.

Remus cleared his throat nervously at the intensity of the glare. James cocked an eyebrow and smiled a charming smile.

"I haven't seen you around here before," said James, his voice deeper all of a sudden. _For crying out loud, Puberty! Where the hell have you been all of my life?_

The girl ignored him and began pouring the hot frothy milk into a white cup. Remus was trying hard to stifle a laugh and Sirius grunted in his sleep. The girl looked at Sirius with disgust and slammed down the mocha in front of James.

"Hey! Wait!" said James as she walked away, pulling the kitchen door open with all of her might. "Want to get a coffee sometime...?"

Remus couldn't laugh, but he could grin. So he did that enthusiastically much to the annoyance of James.

"It's been around 4 years, Prongs," said Remus. "Nobody is going to mind if you're a bit rusty on picking up girls."

James looked furious and frankly, insulted. He was James Potter, charming, rich, damn good looking James Potter. And he had the best contacts around the world, thanks to Dumbledore. Not to mention he was single.

"I'm damn good looking, Remus," said James and Remus chuckled. "Fine, if you're so good, teach me."

Remus' eyes widened for a moment, staring as thought seeing for the first time. Then he cleared his throat. "James, I'm getting married in 7 months. I don't think that it would an appropriate time for me to... Go ask Sirius. He'd help."

Sirius grunted in his sleep again and Remus and James cracked up laughing. They couldn't stop as Sirius moaned and opened his mouth.

"Old habits die hard," said James.

"Amen to that," Remus smiled and their coffee cups clinked quietly. James took a drink of his mocha and spat it out quickly.

"Too strong?" smirked Remus as James hastily wiped his mouth with a napkin. James made a nasty face at Remus who chuckled. "That, my friend, is one very strong cappuccino you have there. She added no chocolate what so ever."

"Probably distracted my looks and my charming company," said James. Remus rolled his eyes and sighed.

"James, at the age of 26, you already have 2 alleged children, an ex-wife and an inflated head. You are under so much stress at work that you haven't called your mother in 4 months nor even accomplished any of your New Year's resolutions."

James gaped at him openly. "How did you know about my mother?"

"James, your mother sees Sirius and I as her own sons and I happen to call her every so often," said Remus, almost loftily, but he cleared his throat. "Do you even remember your New Year's resolution?"

"Caffeine related topic?" mused James. Remus' brow furrowed and said, "You said that you'd take a break from your work now and then."

"Ah. Hmmm... Was I drunk at the time?"

"I wouldn't know, it's usually hard to tell whether you're sober or not."

An awkward silence took part in the conversation as James began to add more sugar into his coffee and Remus finished his.

"We should get Padfoot back to his place," said Remus quietly. "And I need to call Dora."

"Right, you wouldn't mind giving me a lift home?" asked James getting up heaving Sirius with one arm. "Ha, I forgot he was such a deep sleeper."

"Here, let me help," said Remus quickly and threw one of Sirius' arms over his shoulder and James did the same. Together they dragged him out and thanked the blonde waitress, who was sitting on the large man's lap, laughing shrilly.

"Fantastic car by the way," said James as they pushed Sirius in the backseat. "I didn't think that you'd ever affo-"

James quickly stopped himself but Remus seemed oblivious to the matter.

"It's an early wedding present from Andy and Ted," he said quietly and walked all the way around the SUV to the driver's seat. James nervously climbed into his as Remus began to start the engine. They'd always avoided the fragile topic of all of their childhoods. Sirius had parents who had abused his emotionally and mentally, then neglected his for the rest of his life. Remus had perfectly fine parents but they were always low on money and Remus had a deadly heart disease when he was young. Money was always a delicate thing around him. James on the other hand had perfect loving parents, no worries and plenty of money. Thus you see the spoilt, arrogant man standing here today.

Remus was making small talk about how Tonks wasn't too happy changing her name from 'Tonks' to 'Lupin'. She argued that nobody would call her Tonks anymore. James smiled as he thought of the young mousy haired girl who was a reluctant makeup artist. She was dead clumsy with a knack of being a teenager at times.

"Loads of people call her Dora," James smiled.

"That's only her mum, dad and me," Remus smiled back as he drove on the road.

"Well, tell her that she'll always be Tonks to me."

Remus chuckled. "Will do."

"How about you and Tonks come around for dinner tonight? I mean, I do want to celebrate," grinned James. Remus almost looked relieved at his suggestion.

"Nice one, Prongs. We've just been living on leftovers for the past 3 days. Neither of us have bothered to cook."

James laughed along with Remus.

"Why does Sirius have to live so far away?" wondered James, and then caught the eye of Remus. "Ah...right, his folks."

Somewhere in the backseat came a retching noise and then silence. James looked back at Sirius who was sitting at an angle, his head flopping around.

"If he's sober enough, he can come to dinner as well."

* * *

A/N: Now that wasn't too bad was it? Lily's gonna come back in chappie 5, so look out for that. Now here's a list of characters that will be appearing sometime in the future:

Snape  
Regulus  
Pansy (yup, she coming back)  
Dumbledore  
Hagrid  
Walburga  
Jamesy-poo's Mum  
Hermione (she'll be the same age as Lily)

Yay, please review!!

* * *


	4. Small Talk Dinner

Name: Sirius Black

Job: Lawyer, Lupin's partner.

Hair colour: Black (ah, the irony)

Eye colour: Grey

Personality: Relaxed, ladies' man, cheerful, smart, witty, easily offended, immature.

Current situation: _Finally_ graduated from university and come out of his drinking/women habit problem

Traits: Having mood swings

* * *

Sirius' parents were a kind of people that you'd rarely find in a modern society. They highly believed in classes, if anything, they considered themselves to belong to royalty. Walburga and Orion Black lived in the posh suburbs of London, only ever going out to mingle with the 'lower classes' when they were travelling through an area that just happened to have 'lower classes'. Sadly for them, that was just about everywhere, so they usually stayed in the car and expected the chauffer to do everything.

Sirius refused to believe in his parents' outrageous medieval feelings. It was too crazy to even think about. His brother, Regulus, who was always soft and easily manipulated, shared his parents' view even though it wasn't quite as strong as theirs. At the age of 16, he couldn't take the whole 'we're too good for everyone else' theory and ran away. Luckily James heard about this and rescued Sirius from the fleapit motel that he was staying at.

Now, he was sitting in someone's lounge room with annoyingly bright lights. Someone was forcing him to drink something. It couldn't hurt to swallow...

"Gaah!!" yelled Sirius as whatever he drank burnt his mouth and tongue. It felt as though someone had light a fire in his mouth. They must have hit him with a shovel or something because his head hurt... a lot...

"I told you it had to be something spicy," said a woman's voice happily. Sirius tried to see through his watering eyes to see who had spoken. It so familiar...

"I still think you put too much wasabi in that," said another familiar voice, with too much amusement for Sirius' liking. Slowly Sirius rubbed in eyes and blearily around. It was Remus' small lounge room. Lovely. He immediately recognised Tonks and her vibrant violet hair and Remus, who had a hand around her waist.

"About time," laughed Tonks and pecked Remus on the cheek. "I'll go get ready."

"Why am I here? I was...celebrating..." groaned Sirius, rubbing his temples. Tonks grinned as she pulled away from Lupin and into the kitchen tripping over her own feet in the process. Sirius couldn't help raise his eyebrows as Lupin looked at her lovingly.

"I wonder how she's going to handle walking down an aisle," teased Sirius. "Dude, what time is it?"

"Nearing 5:30. Dora and I are going to James' place for dinner. If you feel up to it, you can come too."

Sirius' mouth drooped. 5:30? Already? How much booze did he have?

"Party at Prongs' house? Count me in, baby!" cried Sirius happily, misinterpreting the whole thing. Remus began to try to explain it was more of a dinner part, but Sirius was already ripping off his suit to reveal a funky t-shirt underneath.

"Who else is going?" Sirius grinned.

"Uh, you, Dora, me and most probably Dumbledore and Gillian," Remus said ticking it off his fingers. "Just a couple of close family and friends."

"Oh. Alright-y then," said Sirius disheartened, looking at his t-shirt, which looked more suitable for a teenager than a grown man. Especially the picture and words on it.

"I can't remember the last time I saw an AC/DC t-shirt. How old is that thing?" laughed Remus. Sirius scowled at Remus.

"Watch it, Moony. The chicks love this shirt," said Sirius, tugging at the front of it. Remus snorted very audibly and then cleared his throat.

"I doubt it. I truly do. I'll even let you try it on Dora," Remus smirked.

"Just watch as I make a move on your fiancé..."

Sirius slid off the couch slowly in case he'd get a headache and walked into the kitchen. Tonks was kneeling by a wine rack, inspecting the bottles.

"Hi Sirius," she said happily, not looking up. "Does a bottle of wine that cost 50 pounds sound impressive?"

"Huh? What? No! But if you think that it's impressive enough..." said Sirius slyly, walking over to her confidently. Tonks looked up and burst with laughter.

"Haha, what era are you from? The '80s?" she snorted. "God, that shirt looks bad on you... Haha..."

A soft chuckle came from behind Sirius and he whipped around to glare at Remus, who was watching him smugly.

"Maybe they like champagne instead," said Tonks absentmindedly. "Remus, what does James like drinking?"

"Coffee," said Sirius.

"Water," said Remus.

"Or a cup of black tea," they said together and rolled their eyes.

"James avoids drinking," explained Remus. "He never liked it much in high school and after he met Pansy, he was put off for life."

Tonks grinned again. "I take that as a no for a bubbly? Pity, I feel like a bubbly today..."

She straightened up and looked at Sirius again before cracking up. He looked like a wannabe. Remus kissed her on the cheek as she skipped to the bathroom.

"I swear chicks love this shirt," insisted Sirius.

"Probably because they felt sorry for you or something," laughed Remus. "Ok, you can wear something of mine."

"If you ask James, he'd probably reckon that an AC/DC shirt is hot," grumbled Sirius. Remus coughed lightly and smiled.

"Gillian wouldn't approve of you wearing a shirt that looks that old," said Remus. Gillian was James' elderly mother who fussed over everyone, even if they weren't technically part of her family. She was the exact opposite of Walburga.

Sirius grunted and pouted. He'd never do anything purposefully to upset Gillian.

"Ok, I'll change into a bloody suit and bowtie for Gill."

[A/N: Details missing as I am faaaar too lazy to explain their mind-numbing adventure of waiting for Tonks for find a dress, getting in the car, listening to the radio over the awkward silence, walking up to James' front door and saying "Hi!", "How are you?" and "You look great!"

And so we continue when they have gathered around the table for food.]

"This looks delicious, Gill," said Sirius charmingly as he neatly cut up his steak. "You should open your own restaurant."

James chewed loudly and slowly, rolling his eyes at Sirius as Gillian smiled fondly at Sirius.

"I couldn't do that dear," chuckled Gillian. "I'm enjoying my retirement. So, tell me Dora, when is the wedding?"

Tonks looked nervously at Gillian and glanced at Remus briefly. They had only just told her about their wedding plans and Gillian only continued to smile and offer them congratulations. Tonks had expected squealing and jumping for joy as her own parents had. Now she was afraid that Gillian didn't approve of her.

"Uh, sometime in May... I-We really haven't thought of a date yet and Remus is so busy with work and my parents are in France right now and I have no one to shop with..." chattered Tonks. It was only when Remus put his hand on her own that she stopped and smiled meekly at Gillian.

"May...?" said Gillian softly. "That's James' father and I first met..."

James groaned loudly which only caused everyone to titter. Usually Sirius would have had a laugh that sounded a heck of lot like a dog, but instead he chuckled politely and sipped his on his glass of water with his pinkie stuck in the air.

"Oh, your father was so romantic, James," Gill said happily, passing him a bowl of peas. "I'll help you with your dress Dora."

"Mum, call her Tonks...please?" begged James, his face screwed up with disgust, whether at his mother's comments about his father or the peas, no one could tell. Tonks beamed at him but Gill's eyebrows rose.

"Dora's a much prettier name," she said to Tonks who smiled almost apologetically. "But if being called Tonks tickles your pickle..."

Sirius snorted and choked, his eyes watering. "Aha-ha, 'tickle your pickle'... That's a classic, Gillian..."

Everyone's head turned to look at Sirius who was wiping away his tears.

"Haha... She said 'pickle'..." he giggled hopelessly and hiccupped loudly, which wiped the smile off his face. It was enough to make everyone else laugh. The doorbell rang and Gillian checked the time.

"Ooh, that'll be Albus," she said hurriedly and bustled off to open the door. Remus smiled widely; it was known that he owed his life and job to Albus Dumbledore.

"Albus!" They could hear Gillian greet Dumbledore loudly. "It's about time, the food's getting cold."

"My deepest apologies, Gillian. I was actually hoping for a word with James, if that's alright with you," said Dumbledore deeply. James could hear his mother nod and smile graciously. Dumbledore walked into the dining room and James immediately stood up and ruffled his hair. Remus stood up as well and shook Dumbledore's hand.

"Remus, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

Dumbledore noticed Sirius who grinned lazily at him and saluted him.

"Sirius, how's work?"

"You know me, Albus. I'm working hard and partying hard."

Dumbledore chuckled at Sirius' words and turned to James, whom he shook hands with. James gestured the living room and Dumbledore nodded.

James quickly led Dumbledore there and shut the door. Whatever Dumbledore had to tell him, it was dead serious. It was evident in his voice.

"James, you should know that I'm not going to be around forever..."

"Huh?" said James thickly. Dumbledore smiled.

"I need to go over to Japan for the next few months and then I am being transferred to America."

"Wha-?"

"Congratulations, Mr CEO," smiled Dumbledore, extending his hand to James.

"Say wha...?"

"A new head is need for the company, and who better to take my spot than Jamed Potter? I've mentored you for a good few years now and I know that you can do it without a problem," said Dumbledore, his blue eyes twinkling.

"Huh...?"

At this Dumbledore sighed and waved his hand around. "I'll see you in the office tomorrow, Mr Potter. Don't be late."

And he swept out of the room gallantly.

"What the...?"

* * *

A/N: Very sorry for the lack of details. I'm not really a details person, unless it's something I'm ABSOLUTELY passionate about and awkward car drives are not one of them. Also if your reading this no, I'm a third of a way through Chapter 5, which isn't actually saying much, seeing as the chapters are so short.

Next chapter comes with donuts!!

Btw, I'm going to add Percy Weasley and Umbridge in here... try and guess who they'll be...

-K


	5. Lily's Life

_Disclaimer: The characters remain JK Rowling's._

**As the chapter title suggests, this is Lily's life. Thus no Marauder star in this chapter.**

A very pretty woman hurried down the escalators of a busy mall. She'd lost track of time and really was very late to class. Lily Evans glanced at her plastic shopping bag and frowned. Who would have known that the line in the chemist would be so long?

"Sorry. Excuse me. Sorry. Pardon me..." she said endlessly as she pushed past the slow walkers and sprinted to the automatic door that was the entrance of the shopping centre. They opened slowly, or that's how it seemed to Lily, and Lily burst out of them.

She checked her watch impatiently and saw that she had just missed her bus. Oh, bloody perfect. McGonagall was going to kill her: slowly, painfully, mentally, psychologically, physically, and all other nasty words ending with 'ly'.

Lily really had no time to do anything else other than get her bachelor degree in medicine. She wanted to become a doctor and help people that needed her. It was hard but worth it. She'd always liked a challenge and competition, which was never absent, seeing as her best friend was the one and only Hermione Granger. Hermione was a natural genius whose brain absorbed things up faster than a sponge. Hermione was a year younger than Lily, but in every way her equal. The only thing that Hermione lacked was a broader perception, which Lily had very much of.

At that moment Lily's mobile phone rang. It was Hermione.

"Where the hell are you?" Hermione growled, not bothering to say hi. "McGonagall's just arrived and she's in a foul mood."

"Has class officially started yet? Because she can't tell me off if class hasn't actually started," said Lily, now wandering around aimlessly around the bus stop. "Tell her that I got caught up at the cafe."

"I am not making any excuses for you, Lily Evans!" snapped Hermione. "You ought to be responsible for your own tardiness!"

"You're sounding more like McGonagall every day," Lily rolled her eyes. "Just do this once... please? Pretty please? You can get a free coffee..."

Lily could almost hear Hermione's caffeine powered brain think.

"Fine. Just this once," said Hermione, grumpily and hung up. Lily smirked into her phone and checked the bus timetable and saw that her bus wasn't due for another half an hour. Lily didn't know whether to feel happy or upset, missing out on class.

Finally, she decided that if she was going to miss a bit of class, she'd do it with style... with a donut ...and a milkshake.

She skipped back into the shopping centre and bought herself a jelly-filled donut and a strawberry milkshake. Now she had about 20 minutes left to waltz around and window shop. Lily Evans was not really the type of girl to go clothes shopping, she didn't have the time or the money. Her ideas of everyday clothes were jeans and an old t-shirt.

Lily was pretty but a hand full. She'd had her share of 'boyfriends', who all just seemed like close friends that happened to be boys. But she was too 'troublesome' for them. She was stubborn, fiery and usually a hell of a lot smarter than the boys, which was annoying.

She was wearing her hair in a low pony and a baggy bright green jumper, with a pink hat. From a distance she looked very much like a boy.

Lily finished her donut messily and licked her fingers happily before slurping on her milkshake while browsing at new books in the books store. She checked her watch, 10 minutes to go. Damn, she was going have to endure McGonagall's lectures combined with Hermione's rambling. Or McGonagall's rambling combined with Hermione's lectures... One of the two...

Hastily, she hurried to the bus stop where the bus was already driving away. _DOUBLE BLOODY DAMN!!!_

Oh, how she hated public transport. Can't live with them, can't live without them. She sighed and called Hermione, which was a pretty stupid idea.

"What?" Hermione hissed as quietly and angrily. Lily could hear the speck of spit hit the mouth piece and winced. "We're in the middle of a presentation!"

"That doctor from Italy? I've seen him do that same thing over and over again on YouTube. Has he shown you how to shove your hand up-"

"No, and hurry up and get here," muttered Hermione and hung up before Lily could explain that buses were totally unpredictable. There was nothing else that she could do but possibly walk to uni. Excellent, time to burn away those fatty thighs! _Not that I have fatty thighs..._ thought Lily, grinning. She finished her milkshake and threw it into the bin neatly.

Her university wasn't the grandest, but she loved it and it was her home for the past 2 years. She loved on the campus and shared a room with Hermione. The only thing or person that she hated was the college dean. _Ms Dolores Umbridge: the biggest bitch in the world_.

Lily shuddered, ever since the first day of university, Lily had somehow managed to get on Umbridge's bad side. How? No idea, but Umbridge just hated her.

Lily began her long trip to the school grounds. She would need to go to class then hurry to work because _darling_ Petunia decided to randomly take a day off. Lily scowled at the thought of Petunia. When they were small, people often mistook them for sisters as they were so close. But over the years, Petunia began to reject Lily whenever she could, which was very odd.

She walked past a big fancy building with large glass doors. Lily could see several receptionists on the phone, talking rapidly. It was a computer software/hardware company. Lily didn't approve of them. They were not the most environmentally friendly people, not that Lily was a tree-hugger. The company also supported alcohol-sponsored sport events. They were hardly the most moral people in the world, even though she had heard that the head of this company was one of the smartest, wisest, nicest men in the world. The rest of them were probably just wankers, pardon her language.

* * *

"...therefore the cardiovascular system and the lymphatic system should stop working, which nobody wants. Now, are there any questions? Miss Granger?"

"Last lesson, our Professor stated that the lymphoid tissues were found in-"

There was a timid knock at the door and McGonagall breathed heavily through her nose before opening it. Lily smiled meekly at McGonagall before saying quietly, "Sorry I'm late, ma'am. I was all caught up with work and I missed the buss here..."

McGonagall held up a hand wearily and motioned that she take a seat quickly. Lily could see a tall man with thick grey hair and small eyes watch her unhappily as she hurried to a spot behind Hermione.

"What did I miss?" whispered Lily to Hermione. Hermione rolled her eyes and whispered back, "That guy is the worst doctor I've ever come across! I've asked him 16 questions and he's answered none of them!"

"Probably a fraud," Lily muttered as she got out her book and a pen. The man had begun talking again, ignoring Hermione and her arm, which was stuck straight up into the air.

"Absolute garbage," breathed Hermione angrily. "He's teaching us rubbish. The book clearly says that the blood would-"

"Give it a break Hermione. You know that textbook off by heart."

"Yes, well other people don't. I can't believe McGonagall actually _invited_ him to tell us this nonsense... Didn't you say that you've seen him on YouTube?"

"Yeah, but it didn't actually mean that I was listening," smiled Lily as the man bowed to the class and received a scattered applause. "Besides, I already know everything about the circulatory system. This is high school work!"

"I still took the notes though," said Hermione thoughtfully. "I'm going to the library afterwards to check some of this. Come with me?"

Lily glanced at McGonagall who was addressing the class in her sharp voice.

"...no excuses at all. We've done this topic several times and this assessment only shows how much you can understand and how well you evaluate the information," said McGonagall as the man stood in the corner awkwardly. Hermione's hand shot in the air.

"Please, Professor, how long is this essay?"

"The essay is to have minimum of 2 500 words, Miss Granger, and no more than 4 000. I don't want to be bombarded by thousands of sheets," said McGonagall, giving Hermione a steely look. Last assessment, Hermione had handed in 10 pages on the brain's function, while everyone else gave in a 3 page essay.

"Now, you have a week and a weekend to finish it, which is more than you probably need, thus I expect top quality. Best essay on how the lymphatic system affects the neurons in your limbs gets their work passed onto the editor of _The Science_. Class dismissed."

Lily's mouth dropped open. It was the end of class already? She looked over Hermione's shoulder and saw the notes that she had taken.

"I'll give you the notes, if you come with me to the library, Lily," said Hermione, "and promise never to be late again."

"Deal, and what do you mean by 'again'? I've never been late to class before," snapped Lily defensively. "And I got top mark-"

"_We_ got top mark last semester. We tied, remember?" reminded Hermione as she packed away her things and stood.

"Right, right," murmured Lily and swept everything messily into her bag. "The library, then?"

Hermione nodded and made her way out of the large room. Lily followed her into the corridor and smiled. It was very typical of Hermione to hurry off to the library before lunch.

"You owe me a coffee."

Lily nodded and shrugged at the same time. "Just remind me later."

As the two of them walked past a group of boys, who lay sprawled over the grass, the boys wolf whistled and cheered. Lily and Hermione glared at them and hurried off.

"That was directed at you," they murmured at the same time and grinned. Lily and Hermione had a lot in common: they were both smart, they didn't care much about how they looked, they were both pretty and neither of them came from the richer suburbs. They had both gotten a scholarship, which was lucky for them.

When they entered the library, Hermione disappeared to look at the section on neurology while Lily wandered around the shelves. She liked the library as much as Hermione. It was so full of information and peace and ideas and-

"You're in my way," said a cool voice behind Lily. Lily jumped and turned to see a thin young man with haughty look on his face as he glared at Lily.

"Sorry?" Lily offered as the boy, no, man began lucking out books from the shelf and stacking then in his arms. They were all about landscapes.

"Are you doing art?"

The man looked at her, as if shock that someone like her was talking to him. "Is it any of your business?"

Lily's eye narrowed at the tone of his voice. It matched his snobby look. She turned and went to find Hermione.

"I've read every single book here!" said Hermione when she saw Lily. "There aren't any new books at all."

Hermione sniffed delicately and ran a finger down a spine of a thick brown book. Lily sighed.

"Why not ask that librarian to order some new books?"

"That evil woman? Last time she practically threw me out when she announced that the library was closing. I almost failed my test."

Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed some random books on the brain, then steered Hermione towards the front desk in the library. The dark haired man was there scowling at the little librarian.

"Regulus Black," he kept saying. "Go on, look it up on the computer. Black, Regulus."

"It would have been easier if you just brought your library card," said the librarian unhappily. She began to type slowly before the man stopped her.

"Re-gu-LUS," he said testily. "With a 'u', not an 'a'..."

The harassed librarian blushed and quickly scanned his books. Regulus sighed impatiently and scooped up his books and stalked out of the library.

"Uh, hello," said Hermione nervously as the librarian glared at her. "I was wondering about the new books that-"

"For the last time, no! Now get out of my library!"

Both Hermione and Lily squeaked at the loudness of her voice and Lily dropped the books that she was holding before scurrying out of the library.

"Evil woman!" pouted Hermione and walked proudly towards the campus. "I'm going to start on that essay now. Come on Lily!"

"Yes, I'm coming, Hermione," Lily answered and walked with her friend, thinking about how she'd like another milkshake. Caramel flavoured this time. And a donut with yellow icing and sprinkles.

* * *

A/N: As promised before, I gave you donuts. I hope Lily didn't seem like a lazy slob who lived off her friends. I tried to make her seem calm and clever and sassy (not so much in this chapter) but it may have come out wrong. Also, I gave you McGonagall, Regulus and Hermione. I _warned_ you that it would be OOC.

Also those medical jargon mentioned above: I have no idea what they are and if it even made any sense...

As always, please review and next time I'll have a big 'James-will-meet-Lily-and-piss-her-off' scene. Well, maybe not that big...

-K

* * *


	6. Clash of Cookie Lovers

_Disclaimer: Characters belong to JK Rowling._

* * *

James Potter strolled down the aisle in faded jeans and a casual t-shirt, with his hair as messy as ever. He hardly ever wore anything but a suit, that was the type of person that he was. But wearing a suit to the supermarket seemed a little out of place. He carefully examined the sun-dried tomatoes and compared several cans before grabbing 2 and walked out of the aisle.

The next aisle was an aisle James enjoyed visiting. Cookies! Unknown to him, the neighbouring aisle had stationary and Lily Evan was there looking for a new notepad.

Lily Evans stood in front of the hundreds of colourful note pads, wearing a short brown skirt and deep blue tank top. She hated wearing the tank top because she was freezing but it seemed like a good choice at the time. She peered at the different sized purple notebooks for a while before taking one and walking out of the aisle.

She decided that she needed something sweet so she headed to one of her favourite aisles: COOKIES!

* * *

"15 million dollars," smiled a man as he tapped on a computer screen. "15 _million_ dollars... Very nice."

A group of people craned their necks to see the computer screen. They were in a dark room, the only light came from the screen.

"Who would've known that that old man could make so much on that little business of his," the man chuckled and motioned the circle of people to come closer. "And from what I hear, he will be leaving the country soon. Perfect timing."

The group said nothing.

"His business extends all over the world. Imagine the power behind the stupid little computer business!"

The man stopped talking and rested his chin on his hands thoughtfully.

"Dumbledore is in line with everyone from NASA to the UN. He ruined my life and I will ruin his."

* * *

Lily remembered the young man holding a packet of her favourite brand of cookies. He was the one of two men who towed another man, drunk, into the cafe. Lily hated the way he spoke, dressed, sat and drank. They all cried out '_I'm a snobby guy with a hell of a lot of money, so love me or else.'_ Lily should have turned away and left before he saw her, but a she wanted her cookies, damn it!

James looked up slowly and saw the beautiful redheaded girl from the day of his 'officially single again' day. Today she wasn't wearing her cafe uniform and had her hair tied back in a messy pony tail.

"Oh, hey!" smiled James, instinctively ruffling his hair. The girl raised her eyebrows and stared at his hair before glancing at the packet of cookies. "Oh sorry, did you want these?"

The young man offered Lily the packet in his hand and grinned.

"No. I don't want them," Lily spoke briskly, a perfect imitation of McGonagall and began to walk away. She really did hate guys like him, who walked like he owned the place or looked down on everyone.

The girl turned but James was quicker. "I saw you the other day. You were working, weren't you? At that cafe... I don't know if you remember me..."

_Of course, I remember you. I gave you an extra strong cappuccino, remember?_ Thought Lily but she blinked at him.

"I, uh, ordered a mocha and you made it for me," smiled James, his hand still held out, offering the cookies. The girl half nodded, half shrugged and tried to walk away again. "I'll see you around, yeah?"

Lily halted for the briefest second and made a face of disbelief, thankful that he couldn't see her face. Was he trying to pick her up? Lily thought about answering his question but ended up ignoring him. Somebody had to squash his ego.

James watched the redhead walk away, hypnotised by the swishing of her shoulder length hair. She was also wearing a backpack with a large colourful emblem on it. _University of Hogwarts W&W._ A university student! She was a university student and now James knew exactly which university she went to.

_Stalker, much?_ James could hear Remus' tired voice in his head while Sirius' chanted _Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!_

Some friends he had chosen...

* * *

"His latest project has involved the US Army. A computer chip," smirked the man. "The chip gives full control over the communication network over the world, but not just any communication, _important_ communication. China to Russia. Sydney to Rome. Buckingham Palace to the White House."

The group of people standing around him shivered with excitement.

"But I don't want that power," stated the man simply. One of the people standing let his mouth drop open. "I just want to make Albus Dumbledore suffer. I will take away his life, his work and his loved ones. Everything that makes him happy."

The man's eyes glinted with a look that a maniac would often have.

_Mary, this is for you and Jason..._ he thought.

* * *

The next day, Lily found herself working at 3pm when she should have left 2 hours ago. The shop was on a roll. Even Petunia looked like she was doing some work. Lily stood there at the cash register, her cheeks aching from smiling so much.

Slowly, the line of people dwindled and Lily could leave. Just was she was about to, she noticed a thin man with a hooked nose looking moodily out of the window.

"S-Severus?!"

The man quickly looked up and his glum face smiled widely at her.

"When did you get back?!" squealed Lily as she sat opposite him. He looked rather pleased that she did and cleared his throat.

"About a week ago. I heard that you were working here, so I thought that I'd visit," he answered smoothly. Lily reached over and slapped him playfully on the arm.

"You got back a week ago? I haven't heard from you since you left for Ireland! Couldn't you have called me or anything?" Lily smiled. Severus laughed softly and it only lasted for a second.

"I've been busy, Lily. But tell me about how class is going," Severus said, eager to get away from the topic of what he was doing. Lily launched into a story of staying up past 2am every second night to finish an essay, always running low on money and never having any spare time. Severus nodded and 'aah'ed and 'oh'ed in all of the right places. Lily could talk forever and Severus would listen to her, which was a quality that Severus had that Lily like most. He listened to her and sometimes Lily would catch him looking at her oddly before he would change the subject.

* * *

James was sitting, slumped, in a comfy red chair at the end of a long table. Needless to say, he was very bored.

"...up by 13% while wholesale prices have decreased by 10% in the last six months..."

James stifled a yawn and attempted to look interested in his company's brief. He glanced at his other co-head, the man who had replaced him. The man was taking notes, as if at a lecture and interrupted the presentation every now and then to ask a demanding question. Paul... Pete... Percy! Yes, that's right. Percy Weasley.

James disliked the man, who was always over-eager, over-ambitious, reminding James of the snotty, sweaty nerds at high school. Then he realised that someone had asked him a question.

"Oh, yes, I agree," smiled James unconvincingly. The man giving the presentation gave James a really, REALLY big smile.

"Are you sure, sir?" he asked excitedly, like a child told that he was going to Disneyland with a million bucks.

"Don't be absurd," snapped Percy, sparing James a 'what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about-look?' look. James caught on quickly.

"Yes, that was a joke. That idea of yours is not good," James said lamely as Percy backed him up by nodding vigorously.

"I have predicted the sales for the next six months as well as a report regarding our promotional campaigns taking place in Korea next month," said Percy, taking a thick pile of paper out of his old looking leather briefcase. James' mind began to wander again. He thought of the deli girl, her name on the tip of his tongue, remembering when Petunia had called to her. A nice visit to her wouldn't be too bad, right?

"Hey, Percy," muttered James to the man sitting next to him. "I need to, er, call my...mother. Urgent. Can't wait. Ya know?"

"As head of the company you ought to be more responsible," sniffed Percy. "Your loyalty should be to the company and then to your fami-"

"If you let me go, I'll let you handle the overseas affairs project," offered James slyly. He knew that Percy had wanted to do that project since they had started working with America.

"Fine, but don't expect me to cover for you again, Potter," warned Percy. James waved his hand dismissively at him, which annoyed Percy greatly.

"Sorry to interrupt," smiled James, "but I need to make an urgent phone call. The rest of the meeting will be supervised by Mr Weasley."

He quickly ran out of the room as Percy happily took James' seat at the end of the table. James considered driving the old bomb that was meant to be a car but thought better of it. He could walk. It would only take a couple of minutes.

* * *

Half an hour later

James huffed as the cafe finally came into sight. It wasn't his fault that he was easily distracted by shiny things. Curse that man with the flashy green motorcycle. James peeked inside the cafe and saw Petunia collect empty saucers and cups from the tables. In the corner sat the pretty girl that James couldn't get out of his head. She was talking and laughing with a shadow and James was curious to know who she was with.

As he entered the cafe, Petunia hurried over from a stack of dirty dishes and smiled at James welcomingly and gestured a seat.

"Uh, no, not today. Um, I wanna go see..." James trailed off as he side stepped Petunia and half skipped to Lily but stopped abruptly when he saw who she was with.

"Good heavens above, Snivelly, is that you?!" laughed James loudly. Too loud for Lily's liking, as she watched Severus' lip curl and he's eyes darken at the sight of James. She didn't like that look on Severus, it made him look...evil.

"Potter," retorted Severus, "grown any balls lately?"

"Washed your hair, yet?" sneered James, beginning to forget Lily. It was just like high school all over again, the era when everyone knew it was Potter vs. Snape. Lily narrowed her eyes at James, who smiled charmingly at her, while still trying to glare at Snape, so her ended up doing a funny, half-cross-eyed smirk.

"Do you know him, Severus?" inquired Lily.

"Hardly," answered Severus loftily. "Let's go. Do you want to go for a walk?"

Lily looked at James suspiciously and nodded. Was this guy stalking her? She didn't know whether to be flattered or scared, so she went for disgusted instead. And to think that he bought the same brand of cookies as her! Lily tried to get out of her seat but found her way blocked by the man.

Severus stood up and took a step towards James so that his face was an inch away.

"Watch it, Potter," snarled Snape and James cocked an eyebrow and held up his hands innocently, watching Lily get on her feet. She walked past him, trying not to touch him, while Severus did quite the opposite. The two grown men rammed their shoulders together as Severus walked past, obviously trying to cause each other as much pain as possible.

Just as Lily and Snape had stepped out of the cafe, James called out, "Hey, girl! What's your name?!"

Lily turned her head back with a scandalous look on her face, as Severus gave him the finger.

"They've known each other since they were about 9," offered a reproachful voice to James' right. "Best friends though out their teenage years, I'd reckon."

It was the blonde waitress, Petunia. James made a face at the thought of Snivellus ever having friends. He made another face that someone like the redheaded girl would ever be friends with Snivellus.

"I know right?" sniffed Petunia. "You'd think that someone with her brains would have gotten better friends than _him_. She's got that other friend from uni. Absolute _nerd!_"

"What course is she doing?" asked James, curiously.

"The one that doctors do," said Petunia rather thickly.

"Right," nodded James. "Can you tell me her name?"

"Evans. Li-"

But Petunia was cut off by a frustrated yell. "Those dishes aren't going to do themselves, Petunia!"

James sighed as Petunia scarpered off to do the dishes. Somewhere in the distance, he could still see 'Evans' and Snivellus walking. Lucky bugger.

* * *

A/N: I know this is up late, but heck, it's longer than usual, so don't complain. You meet Snape, you meet Percy and James meets Lily...twice!! Keep reading people! I see more cookies on the horizon.

And yes, sometime in the future, James will know Lily's name. And as for the mystery man, let's just call him Bob for the while until I think of his name. He's gonna be my Voldy, but Voldemort doesn't sound modern enough and I don't wanna call him Tom, so I've settle for Bob, but only temporarily.

Please review. Pretty button, pretty button...just press on it.....


	7. NOT A CHAPTER

**Note: This is NOT a chapter...as you can probably tell...**

Dear my awesome readers:

I have a really good excuse for not updating in such a long time, I'm on holidays (to which I am travelling) and I also have a heap of holiday homework. Rest assure that I haven't died and that 'The Deli Girl' will be up soon. Fingers crossed.

Sorry for all the people who thought that this was an update, it's just a warning that I won't be doing anything fancy too soon for 'The Deli Girl', specifically. I'm updating my other fic though, only because it's easier for me to do one fic at a time.

Sorry again, K. TT__TT


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